Part 9

Page 668
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This transcription is complete

fruit trees here. There is no poison West of this country. About 12 miles north of the Blackwood-road one can get the narrow heart leaf and big heart leaf poisons. It comes South-east eight miles by Yerininip. A man should have about 200 acres of this country as a minimum. For practical purposes I should say that he should have 500 acres.

9824. Have you anything to say about secondhand fruit cases?—If the Government would take control of all empty cases and have them fumigated and see to their distribution it would be quite safe, and it would represent a big saving to the grower. I must admit that at the last conference of fruit growers the proposition was turned down in view of the risk.

9825. Have you any suggestions to make for the betterment of the Agricultural industry or the encouragement of land settlement?—I am strongly of opinion that a lot of this heavily timbered country is so costly to clear that it is doubtful whether it has any real value, and I think the question of rental should be but a minor consideration altogether subservient to that of improvements. One could not get for cleared and sweetened land what it has cost him to put it onto that condition. From the State point of view the most important thing should be the effective settlement of the land. I think the State would be perfectly justified in subsidising co-operative effort for the establishment of butter and bacon factories. One satisfactory form of subsidy would be carrying the cream to the creamery free on the railways. The proposed western railway would touch growers who are now carting 35 miles into Cranbrook. For many miles both sides of the line the land is eminently suited to fruit growing and mixed farming. Want of facilities in getting stuff to market is the sole reason why so much land out there is still vacant. Generally speaking the people on the land right through his district are improving their position.

9826. Have you, Mr. Kearsley, anything to add to what Mr. Crane has said?

9827. Mr. KEARSLEY: I do not think the use of second-hand cases would result in saving of 7s. per dozen to the grower, and in any case there is the risk of introducing disease. I suggest that the State should undertake to supply a mill for the district. The State provides crushing plant for the miner and similar assistance should be given to the fruit grower. If we had the western railway no doubt private enterprise would provide such a mill. We have had lectures by Mr. Moody, of the Agricultural Department, but to my thinking the general benefit of such lectures is doubtful. A tram line, 15 miles east of the Porongorups, would touch thousands of acres of karri country suitable for the making of fruit cases.

(The witness retired.)


FREDERICK HENRY SOUNNESS, Farmer, Mt. Barker, sworn and examined:

9828. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have been here 34 years. I hold 4,000 acres, of which 700 acres is cleared for cultivation. I crop about 100 acres. I have cropped 300 in one year. Fallow does not make much difference in this district provided the crop is in early. I have 200 acres in orchard. I run 1,500 sheep, 30 horses, 35 cattle. The average carrying capacity of virgin land in this district is about one sheep to ten acres. On land cropped and treated with super it would be about 10 sheep to one acre. Last year on 48 acres of cultivated land we raised 150 lambs, and fattened the ewes at the same time. This was on the grass that came after cultivation. The same number of sheep are running on it now. We have tried lucerne and white clovers and cocksfoot, and Yorkshire fog, but they were not successful. Fertilising the natural grasses gives much better results. It would be safe to use second-hand fruit cases if they were properly treated, but the risk of disease is great. Seeing that potato bags and phosphate bags are likely to bring disease into the district, I do not know that the risk of second-hand case is too great to be taken. I would not use second-hand cases if I could get new cases at a reasonable price. I prefer new cases, even if the using of second-hand cases would represent a saving of 7s. a dozen. There is no reason why new fruit cases should cost us 12s. a dozen. We have bought Swedish cases in thousands at 8s. a dozen. It is the distance we are from the mills that runs the cases so high. They have to be brought 400 miles. We have plenty of timber within 12 miles of us, equal to the best karri country. A co-operative Spot-mill might over come the difficulty if we had a tramline out to the timber. There is a fair quantity of stone fruit grown in this district. This year we had 15 tons of peaches waste on our hands. We tried to dry prunes, but owing to the continuous wet weather, it was not successful. A jam factory or even the pulping of the stuff would greatly help. It would pay to grow stone fruit at £8 per ton if we could get cases at reasonable prices. Apples at 4s. 6d. per case on rails represent very little profit. I think the best future in this district will be found to lie in fruit, dairying, and sheep mixed. Only comparative success can be achieved with any of the three. The average return of apples in this district is about 100 cases per acre. The most profitable varieties are, for the early export markets, Dunn's seedings, Cleros, and Jonathan. For the late markets, Yates, Rokewoods, and Granny Smith. Cox's orange pippins yield too shy for commercial purposes. Dunn's seedlings are the best all round export apples. The markets of the Eastern States have assisted us this year, but the returns were not very encouraging. For 1,012 cases we received net £117. With the exception of woolly aphis, we have no disease to speak of in this district. We have not seriously tackled the question of the evaporation of apples in this district. Sooner or later we must do it. Either that or cut down and re-graft. Personally I am adopting the latter alternative. For Yates on rails here I have just received from a Perth merchant 6s. and 7s. 6d. In this district a slope facing the east is the best aspect for an orchard. We get heavy southerly winds here. I have had a thousand cases blown off in one day. Until we get a canning trade here it will be more profitable to grow apples than pears. We are under considerable disadvantage through not having louvred cars. One of our growers, Mr. Martin, sent 816 cases to Perth for storage, and practically all were ruined in transit. They grossed 2s. 8.4d. per case. The charges came to 1s. 5.5d., and the net return was 1s. 2.9d. Louvred vans would greatly assist us in respect of pears and stone fruits. I ordered a louvred van for Bartlett pears